You'll find Ottawa school rankings on this page. We hope this helps parents find schools that match their biggest concerns, and provides a springboard to discover what will really be the best school for their child(ren). Lists below are proffered with caution.
We urge parents to use our site's other tools and information that offer much richer insight. Those include our overview of Ottawa private schools, our advanced search (which filters for many specific concerns), and tools like our school comparison tool. Our advice guide covers different school options, types of schools, choosing a school, paying for school, and many other topics. The Ottawa private school expo is a unique forum for parents, allowing them to meet with school representatives and explore in-depth how schools can meet families' specific needs.
We tenuously offer these rankings lists as a tool, to be used with great prudence.
Schools often have a low admission rate due to a strong focus on academics coupled with a high number of applicants. Other factors that contribute to a low acceptance rate, though, including the size of facilities, a focus on limiting class sizes, and others. In a general sense, though, this might be seen as an indication of how academically demanding a school is. Parents might also find this list helpful as it provides a quick snapshot of child(ren)'s chances of getting into some schools.
Here are Ottawa private schools ranked by their reported acceptance rates. Use this with caution:
| School | Location | Grades | Acceptance rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elmwood School | Ottawa, ON | PS to 12 | 70% |
| 2 | Ashbury College | Ottawa, ON | 4 to 12 | 70% |
| 3 | Kanata Montessori | Kanata, ON | NS to 12 | 70% |
| 4 | Heritage Academy of Learning Excellence | Ottawa, ON | 1 to 12 | 75% |
| 5 | Lycée Claudel | Ottawa, ON | PS to 12 | 75% |
| 6 | Turnbull School | Ottawa, ON | JK to 8 | 80% |
| 7 | Macdonald-Cartier Academy | Ottawa, ON | 7 to 8 | 85% |
| 8 | Académie Westboro Academy | Ottawa, ON | JK to 8 | 90% |
| 9 | Académie de la Capitale | Ottawa, ON | JK to 12 | 90% |
| 10 | Astolot Educational Centre | Ottawa, ON | 1 to 12 | 90% |
Parents interested in how expensive private schools are may naively see this as correlative to how "good" a school is. This thinking is somewhat simplistic and shallow, although it is true that a school collecting more tuition can build bigger, even better facilities, and it likely hires the most highly qualified instructors. It may also offer other advantages that money can buy.
But money cannot guarantee that a school is the best school for your child. Many of the best Ottawa private schools charge very reasonable tuition rates. For those parents who are interested in this statistic, we provide a list below, intended as a starting point or helpful information in their school search.
| School | Location | Grades | Tuition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elmwood School | Ottawa, ON | PS to 12 | $15,540 to $29,700 |
| 2 | Ashbury College | Ottawa, ON | 4 to 12 | $26,300 |
| 3 | Blyth Academy Ottawa | Ottawa, ON | 8 to 12 | $18,395 to $23,995 |
| 4 | Turnbull School | Ottawa, ON | JK to 8 | $19,700 to $21,700 |
| 5 | OMS Montessori | Ottawa, ON | NS to 6 | $14,664 to $21,384 |
| 6 | Académie de la Capitale | Ottawa, ON | JK to 12 | $18,633 to $20,225 |
| 7 | Edelweiss Private Academy | Ottawa, ON | K to 8 | $17,950 to $20,000 |
| 8 | Parkdale Montessori School | Ottawa, ON | NS to K | $14,700 to $18,695 |
| 9 | Kanata Montessori | Kanata, ON | NS to 12 | $16,750 to $18,500 |
| 10 | Heritage Academy of Learning Excellence | Ottawa, ON | 1 to 12 | $15,400 to $18,000 |
Below we list Ottawa’s oldest private schools. A school with a long history may seem appealing to some parents, considering this prestigious. We urge you to go beyond superficial factors like this when searching for a school that will be best for your child(ren).
| School | Location | Grades | Founded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashbury College | Ottawa, ON | 4 to 12 | 1891 |
| 2 | Elmwood School | Ottawa, ON | PS to 12 | 1915 |
| 3 | Academie Jeanne d'Arc | Ottawa, ON | JK to 8 | 1954 |
| 4 | Lycée Claudel | Ottawa, ON | PS to 12 | 1962 |
| 5 | OMS Montessori | Ottawa, ON | NS to 6 | 1966 |
| 6 | Ottawa Christian School ✝ | Ottawa, ON | JK to 8 | 1966 |
| 7 | Kanata Montessori | Kanata, ON | NS to 12 | 1974 |
Below, find a list of Ottawa schools who have produced the most notable alumni. Notable alumni, in this case, is determined by whether someone has been granted a page on Wikipedia. That’s a credible yet simplistic indicator of influence and value contributed to society. In any case, we certainly urge parents to go well beyond this and other ranking factors when deciding on the best school for your child(ren).
| School | Location | Grades | Notable alumni | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashbury College | Ottawa, ON | 4 to 12 | 7 |
| 2 | Elmwood School | Ottawa, ON | PS to 12 | 2 |
| 3 | OMS Montessori | Ottawa, ON | NS to 6 | 1 |
| 4 | Blyth Academy Ottawa | Ottawa, ON | 8 to 12 | 1 |
Maria Montessori wanted kids to be kids, allowing them to learn in ways that were social and engaging. She would have loved the York School. [Read more]
They can read, but when it comes to functional literacy—expressing ideas, crafting arguments—some feel that students could, and should, be doing better. [Read more]
